Sycamore beats L-P for coach Joe Ryan’s 200th career victory

As Sycamore and La Salle-Peru went through the handshake line, a bunch of signs popped up in the visiting bleachers at Howard Fellows Stadium.

The Spartan faithful cheered loudly as the Sycamore players rushed to surround coach Joe Ryan.

With Friday’s 28-13 victory over the Cavaliers in an Interstate 8 Conference game, Ryan earned his 200th career victory.

“It means a lot,” said Ryan, who is 200-126 (.613) in 32 seasons at Sycamore, Princeton and Eureka. “We’ve some really good teams here. Some really good kids. I’ve had some great coaches along the way that helped us. This is 200 wins on my record, but a lot of people had a lot to do with that.”

Sycamore quarterback/defensive back Burke Gautcher was a big part of the milestone victory as he threw for two touchdowns and ran for two scores.

“It’s very special,” Gautcher said. “He’s been coaching a long time. To see him earn that, it’s really special. To be part of it is special.”

The Spartans had to capitalize on limited offensive opportunities and play stout defense to get Ryan his 200th victory.

Sycamore had just two offensive possessions in the first half but scored on both.

“We took advantage of the opportunities we had in the way we wanted to,” Ryan said. “We have a lot of speed and that’s what helps. We can take the top off a little bit and we hit some big plays.”

After L-P took 4:15 off the clock on its opening drive, the Spartans took over on the L-P 15 and needed five plays to score when Gautcher connected with Kyle Prebil for a 56-yard scoring strike.

The Cavs took another 5:02 off the clock on their second drive, which ended in a punt attempt, but a low snap gave the Spartans the ball on their own 49, which led to Gautcher scoring on a 1-yard sneak.

“We knew they were going to hold onto the ball a lot, but our defense locked it down and we just stayed true and got it done,” Gautcher said. “With the type of receivers we have, we just took advantage of those guys. They run the right routes. We had good blocking and got things done.”

L-P then ate up the remaining 7:03 of the first half but didn’t score and the Spartans led 14-0 at halftime.

The Cavs ran 29 plays and held the ball for 16:26 in the first half compared to 13 plays and 7:34 time of possession for Sycamore.

“We were trying to keep them off the field as much as we could,” L-P coach Jose Medina said. “We know they can score quickly. Offensively, we were moving the ball, we just couldn’t finish. We’d have a nice play then once again it was those little mistakes, those costly mistakes that slow us down.”

The Spartans extended their lead to 21-0 on the first drive of the second half when Gautcher found Aidan Wyzard streaking down the sideline.

Wyzard caught the pass and stiff armed an L-P defender around the 7-yard line and dragged him all the way into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown.

Gautcher added a 2-yard TD plunge with 8:12 left to make it 28-0.

“We gave up some big plays, but we battled and continued to battle,” Medina said. “We made them work and that’s what we wanted to do, but they still put some points on the board.”

The Cavs got on the board with 2:42 left when Marion Persich found Landon Zellers for an 18-yard TD to end a long scoreless drought against the Spartans, who had shut out L-P in the previous four meetings.

L-P’s second touchdown came when Reegan Kellett returned an interception 28 yards for a score against Sycamore’s reserves with 55.3 seconds left.

The Spartans held L-P to 76 rushing yards, while Persich finished 16 of 23 for 153 yards and a TD.

“They’ve had some big plays over the top where there’s a blown coverage and the quarterback scrambles and hits a play over the top. We didn’t give that up,” Ryan said. “They picked up some third down conversions, but we made them really work for that and that’s usually what we try to do.”

Sycamore (7-0, 4-0 I8) plays Morris (5-2, 3-1) at home next week looking to lock up the conference title, while L-P (3-4, 1-3) heads to Kaneland (4-3, 1-3).

“We’re excited,” said Gautcher, who finished 9 of 11 for 238 yards and two scores. “It’s going to be a good, tough game. We’re glad to be playing at home. We just look forward to it.”

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 17

Sycamore’s football team poses for picture after win against L-P on Friday, October 11, 2024 at Howard Fellows Stadium in LaSalle. (MaKade Rios for Shaw Media)